Since my divorce I have been living with my widowed mother, who has been increasingly relying on my management of all her household expenses.

I basically pay for all household expenses such as groceries and bills from my own income, but when it comes to my mother’s healthcare, I have been relying on her pension.

My mother suffers from a large number of chronic conditions, requiring a special diet, daily medications, monitoring equipment, frequent doctor visits and periodic nurse care, which adds up to be a significant cost over time.

So I am in a position where I really rely on my mother’s pension for her healthcare.

I have recently heard that the government has introduced significant changes that will apply to the age pension from the beginning of 2017, and I am concerned that this will impact the most vulnerable like my mother and I.

Can anyone explain whether these changes will reduce or remove the pension from elderly widows like my mother who owns her house outright, and has funds left over to her from my deceased father, but other than that she is very old and frail and needs ongoing healthcare support?

(23-Sep-2016, 12:41 PM)Rlloyd Wrote: Since my divorce I have been living with my widowed mother, who has been increasingly relying on my management of all her household expenses.

I basically pay for all household expenses such as groceries and bills from my own income, but when it comes to my mother’s healthcare, I have been relying on her pension.

My mother suffers from a large number of chronic conditions, requiring a special diet, daily medications, monitoring equipment, frequent doctor visits and periodic nurse care, which adds up to be a significant cost over time.

So I am in a position where I really rely on my mother’s pension for her healthcare.

I have recently heard that the government has introduced significant changes that will apply to the age pension from the beginning of 2017, and I am concerned that this will impact the most vulnerable like my mother and I.

Can anyone explain whether these changes will reduce or remove the pension from elderly widows like my mother who owns her house outright, and has funds left over to her from my deceased father, but other than that she is very old and frail and needs ongoing healthcare support?

The changes taking effect on the 01 Jan 2017 are likely to reduce the entitlement for many Age Pensioner recipients. that being said, those who are more financial vulnerable will enjoy an increase to the the lower threshold thus increasing their access to the full pension.

So long as your mother's assets are below the threshold in Table 1 then she will still be eligible for the full Age Pension (whilst the family home is excluded as an asset, motor vehicles, home contents, boats, caravans etc are not).

The biggest impact of these changes are on those who currently receive part of the Age Pension. Whereas previously the Age Pension would reduce by $1.50 for every $1,000 your assets exceeding the above threshold, now the Age Pension will reduce by $3.00 for every $1,000 above the threshold. This increase in the 'taper rate' will result in Age Pension recipients losing part or all of their Age Pension even with very modest retirement savings.

Table 2 outlines the assets cut off point for those on the part pension. If you assets are above these limits, you will not receive the Age Pension (until your assets fall below the thresholds)